Since April, 10 teams representing different Latin American countries have been matched for weekly games through Washtenaw County’s first Liga Latinos Unidos, a Latinx soccer league for residents of the area. Every Sunday, hundreds of Latinx community members from across the county are drawn to Ypsilanti’s Frog Island Park to watch tournament games.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, league co-organizer Walter Herrera said he has been organizing soccer-themed Latinx American festivals since 2003 to celebrate Mexican and Central American Independence Day. Despite a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Herrera said both the universal popularity of soccer and growing Latinx community in the area have merited a return and expansion of this tradition from a one-day festival to a seasonal soccer league.
“Everybody starts to know me in the past 20 years as I continue to participate in most Latino festivals,” Herrera said. “There were suggestions like ‘Let’s do it every Sunday’ but we never started. This year, the decision (was) like, ‘Let’s do this.’ This is not only a dream of mine, but also a dream of everybody.”
While the league is contested by teams representing different countries, Nelson Diaz, an Ann Arbor-area soccer coach and co-organizer of the league, said many of the teams consist of players from diverse national origins. Diaz said he believes this aspect of the league only further unites the community around their shared love for soccer.
“When we put teams together, I knew that we needed some great players,” Diaz said. “One of my dreams was playing with my son. He’s 16, and his teammates and kids that I was coaching are from different countries, including a Japanese kid who we invited to join us in the past years … Soccer is what brings us together. Soccer builds friendships and relationships. It’s not just a soccer ball.”
Enrique Hernandez is a kicker for the Honduras team and was among the first soccer players to participate in Herrera’s Latinx American festivals. In an interview with The Daily, Hernandez said he welcomed the extended competition schedule because it provides more opportunities for Latinx community members dispersed throughout different geographic areas and stages of life to reunite.
“It is better than the Latino American festival because now we get to do it the whole summer,” Hernandez said. “We got some friends right here whom we have worked with and played together like 10, 15 years ago. Now right here we can meet everybody whom we haven’t seen for a long time.”
Hernadez said he appreciates the family-friendly atmosphere of the league, with kids frequently taking over the field to play their own matches during game breaks. He said he believes the league will serve to foster intergenerational ties around soccer.
“It is very family (friendly),” Hernadez said. “We even rented bouncy houses for the kids, but we also try to introduce soccer to our new generation and keep them away from stuff they shouldn’t do.”
In addition to soccer teams, the league features a line-up of vendors — all of whom are family members of the players — selling traditional food from their countries of origin. In an interview with The Daily, Arely Hall, who runs the catering business Nico’s Tacos, said her family has experience cooking a variety of cuisines and takes a multicultural approach to food. Hall said a portion of the sales go toward sponsoring the league team her brother-in-law plays for.
“My parents both moved to Ann Arbor when I was 10 and we … sold American, Italian, and Greek food, and we later introduced Mexican street food,” Hall said. “But they were stuck there all the time from 6:00-9:00 and they decided that they don’t want to do it anymore because they wanted to spend more time with the family … We grew up knowing how to cater to people from different cultures. Now we are selling traditional Mexican tacos and we are trying to incorporate different street foods.”
Even with another three months of games remaining in the season, Diaz has already started envisioning the future of the league. Diaz said he hopes the league can one day make space on the field for female members and older individuals who are currently in the spectator stands.
“Eventually we will have an older soccer league and a (female) soccer league,” Diaz said. “The generation of (current soccer players’) kids, both females and males, are playing in local soccer clubs … we also have to work harder in order to build something for them.”
Alejandra Mejia, an immigrant from Honduras, said in an interview with The Daily that she has two family members involved in the league and frequently attends their games. Mejia said while she typically roots for Honduras, she is happy to stay and watch other league games to enjoy the company of the broader Latinx community.
“The game starts at 9:00, and I just stick around and watch everyone play,” Mejia said. “I have been here every Sunday, and I’m sure I’m gonna be here until the last Sunday.”
Daily Staff Reporter Chen Lyu can be reached at lyuch@umich.edu.